Berlusconi’s New Instagram Feed Is the Most Berlusconi Thing Ever

Former Italian Prime Minister, current billionaire convict, and longtime plastic surgery enthusiast Silvio Berlusconi joined the photo sharing site Instagram last week, in the run-up to regional elections on Sunday that pose a survival test for his center-right Forza Italia party, which has been effectively run into the ground thanks to its leader's various misdeeds.

Former Italian Prime Minister, current billionaire convict, and longtime plastic surgery enthusiast Silvio Berlusconi joined the photo sharing site Instagram last week, in the run-up to regional elections on Sunday that pose a survival test for his center-right Forza Italia party, which has been effectively run into the ground thanks to its leader’s various misdeeds.

The once wildly popular prime minister has through his endless adventures in the Italian legal system — and the sexual and financial transgressions that helped land him there in the first place — smashed his reputation as a charismatic leader with his finger always on the national pulse. Berlusconi has been convicted on charges of tax fraud and has been expelled from the Senate. Though he was acquitted on charges that included offering cash for sex to an underage girl at a so-called “bunga bunga” sex party, Berlusconi still faces charges related to his alleged paying off of witnesses in that trial and another political corruption charge in Naples.

In short, he seems to have finally outpaced the patience of a permissive Italian public: Less than 12 percent of voters say they support Forza Italia. Might his Instagram feed help reverse his fortunes?

So far, he’s used the platform to share Berlusconi-versions of the photos most users post: images of his meals, his girlfriend, and his dog — just far more garish. The man’s extravagant tastes haven’t changed much.